Dale Wahl has been appointed CEO of LAIKA, Phil Knight’s animation company formerly known as Vinton Studios. Effective Oct. 3, Wahl will take over for interim CEO Robert Harold, a longtime Nike financial exec who came out of retirement to oversee the company in March. Harold will assist in the transition and retains his seat on LAIKA’s board of directors.
Wahl comes to LAIKA with more than 30 years experience in global brands and financial management. He most recently served as CFO for OH! Shoes, where he has been since January of this year following a four year tenure as CFO for Metro One Telecommunications. From 1982 to 1998, he held several key executive positions at Nike Inc., both in the U.S. and in Asia.
‘Now we begin an exciting new phase in the evolution of LAIKA into a major force in the worlds of entertainment, media, and advertising,’ says Knight, LAIKA’s owner and chairman of the board of directors. ‘Dale is an extremely talented business leader who brings decades of experience in guiding new companies, building global brands, empowering talented creatives and growing collaborative teams.’
LAIKA was peripherally involved in the recently released Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, and the company’s flagship CG-animated project, director Henry Selick’s Moongirl, won the Short Film Special Jury Prize at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In the pipeline are the animated feature films Coraline and Jack & Ben’s Animated Adventure.
Based on the Hugo Award-winning best-selling children’s book by Neil Gaiman, Coraline will employ both stop-motion and CG animation to tell the story of a young girl who discovers an alternative version of her own life while investigating her new home. Writing and directing duties are being handled by Selick, (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) who joined the company as supervising director in 2004. LAIKA is producing the film in association with former Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman and CEO Bill Mechanic and his Pandemonium films.
Jack & Ben’s Animated Adventure is an original idea from LAIKA Ent.’s director of story Jorgen Klubien, a veteran writer, director, storyboard artist and designer who joined the company earlier this year. The CG family film is described as a tale of survival, brotherly love and grand adventure set in the animal kingdom. The film will be written and directed by Klubien, who lists among his credits The Lion King, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., A Bug’s Life and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
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